A350XWB MSN2
Airbus rolled-out its third A350XWB flight-test aircraft, MSN2, from the paint shop in Toulouse today. The program seems to be steadily on a path to EIS in 4Q14. Note the neat new and distinctive “Carbon” livery to reflect the A350’s…
Category Airbus
American Switches Orders for A350-800 to A350-900
American Airlines announced that it is switching its orders (previously US Airways) for the 276 seat A350-800 to the larger 315 seat A350 -900 model. It is no secret that Airbus has been working its customer base to trade up…
Replacing the 757
The two big OEMs tell us they have a ”natural” replacement for the 757 — the A321neo and 737-9MAX. Unfortunately, neither option appears optimal, as both fall short on range, payload, and runway performance. Is there a market for a…
The Turboprop Surge
Hidden amidst the first flights for CSeries and A350, and launches of 787-10 and 777-X, the turboprop market has quietly been gaining strength in the second half of 2013, and appears to be well positioned for success in 2014. We’ve…
Cathay Pacific Orders 21 777-9X Aircraft
Cathay Pacific and Boeing have agreed on terms for 21 777-9 aircraft, with Cathay becoming the first Asian customer for the type. This order was rumored in the industry prior to the Dubai Air Show, but delayed as terms of…
The power of relentless tweaking
Earlier this week Airbus’ Tom Enders made an interesting remark. Specifically: “Why should we spend large amounts of money when we can make significant incremental improvements?” Aerospace is risky and it is not getting less risky. Derivative aircraft are lower…